So if you don't know Sixth Edition for W40K is all but confirmed by this point for this summer. Which means rumors are coming out everywhere. What do you guys think of these proposed changes?
The rumour pile is EXTENSIVE. This is the largest conglomeration I know of - I found this on Warseer but I think it's been taken down since then. Anyway, it is a long read, and it was from nearly 6 months ago, so as always take with salt.
Layout
Pretty crisp and clean
on odd pages there is the normal rule text with examples, on even pages there are the usual diagrams and charts, and small boxes with definitions
Lots of rules that were formerly explained within the text, are now only summarized in the text, the full rules are given in these boxes, you can read the rules text very fast without much detail, there are some boxes that have a name of a rule, but are empty otherwise. I guess that there should be page references to later pages, for example in the terrain rules, there is Torrent of Fire mentioned, the rule is explained much later (in a box), there is an empty box in the terrain section that reads Torrent of Fire however
So you have both: clear rules veterans and easy reading for first-timers
But it seems that there is not much space left for pictures, though
Fundamentals:
characteristic tests as normal,
if unit must make test, it is made by squad leader
vehicles fail every test automatically if they dont have the value
test on ld is made with single D6 on halved value, vehicles pass these tests automatically
Majority characteristic: characteristic-value with most wounds in unit, if draw, use the higher
Keep track on:
wounds
movement distance
morale condition
everything else can be forgotten between actions
Saves:
4 kind of changes: armour save, cover save, invulnerable save, Feel no Pain
no model can ever make more than two saves or one re-rollable save
normal models can only make one roll or one re-rollable roll
Situation where two rolls are eligible:
- one of the saves is FnP
- model is character
- model is bracing
Feel no Pain (1-3): save on 5+,4+,3+, only negated by AP 1, 2 and wounds that dont allow armour saves, the only save that every model and not only ICs may take in addition to another save
Actions
The rules make really clear what an unit can do and what not. There is an own chapter for the basic concepts. Every special rule has only to state: can do x, y, z and it is perfectly clear that the unit can still a, b and c
Actions:
- movement: movement in movement phase, sometimes only special types of movement are allowed: advance, surge, flat out, fleet; charge and disembark have to be rules out explicitly
- consolidate moves: every other move, has to be mentioned explicitly
- psychic powers
- shooting
- Reactions
- residual actions: any other action, for example popping smoke
unit is immobile: abbreviation for cannot move, react, make consolidation moves
Reactions
models can react every time the conditions are met
- Going to Ground:
who: non-vehicles, non-monstrous creatures
when: unit is being shot at, before rolls are made
instant effect: -
lasting effect: Suppressed, if not already Suppressed
- Brace:
who: tanks, walkers, monstrous creatures
when: being shot at, before rolls are made
instant effect: one weapon destroyed ignored, two saves for MC like IC
lasting effect: Suppressed, if not already Suppressed
- Flying High:
who: jet pack infantry, jump infantry, jetbikes
when: being shot at
instant effect: count as being flyer for shooting, opposing player can make 6 consolidation move with the unit
lasting effect: Suppressed, if not already Suppressed
- Evade:
who: skimmer, fast non-tanks, jetbikes, bikes, jet pack infantry, jump infantry
when: unit is being rammed or tank shocked and nearly fails morale check
instant effect: on 3+ can make 6 consolidation move, ignores ram if out of the way
lasting effect: -
- Return Fire:
who: (disembarked) units with Overwatch
when: unit is shot at the first time in the phase
instant effect: unit can fire rapid fire and assault weapons with a single shot at attacking unit, range 12, resolved simultaneously, opposing unit is fearless (2) and stubborn for this purpose
lasting effect: -
- Charge by chance:
who: non-vehicles, walkers
when: Trapped, tank shock
instant effect: charge by chance
lasting effect: -
Terrain:
there are two different things: to be in cover, to be in terrain
every piece of terrain has a footprint, if an unit is this area or touches it, it is in terrain, being in terrain is important for movement and assaults
to decide if a model is in cover, you use true line of sight, cover is usually used for shooting, though some weapons use terrain
terrain is open, impassable, or has any number of the following attributes:
- difficult terrain: unit can only advance through it, if a single model moves through
- dangerous terrain:
units that move through dangerous terrain must make a test
non-vehicles make dangerous terrain test for every model that has actually moved through it at the end of the phase
vehicles must designate a point where they enter the terrain before the movement, than make the test, if vehicle is stunned, immobilized or destroyed, move it to designated point in a straight line
for every failed test, the unit gets a hit
non-vehicles: failed on 1: auto wound on unit, allocated together as Torrent of Fire
vehicles: roll depends on movement distance: advanced = failed on 1, surged = failed on 1-3, flat out = failed automatically, vehicle gets S8 hit against side armour
walker only ever fail on 1
non-vehicle units make only a single dangerous terrain test a turn, vehicles every time they enter a different dangerous terrain
- leveled: must spend movement for vertical advancement, non-walker vehicles and bikes cant move vertical in leveled terrain
difficult and dangerous terrains are always ignored if the movement isnt taking place in the own movement phase
Preparation and consolidation phase
These phases are collecting basin for all kinds of action that takes place before the movement or at the end of the turn. The player which turn it is may choose the order of these actions freely.
preparation phase: psychic powers, placing reserves, rallying, joining/ leaving, claiming mission markers
consolidation phase: rallying, consolidation moves, jet pack moves, joining/ leaving, embarking, killing multi-wounded units
consolidation move: moves outside the movement phase (jet pack movement, embarking, joining/leaving, falling back, moves after combat, tank shock evasion
) and moves that are described as consolidation moves are consolidation moves
cannot end in contact with enemy, ignores terrain even if performed in own movement phase, all units are relentless for this movement, can move even if fired heavy weapon, can fire heavy weapon afterwards, doesnt affect unit speed for being shot at if not stated otherwise
Abandon: If there is more than one model with less than its initial wounds in an unit in the consolidation phase, the owning player must remove all but one as casualty ( ID(3) ). Independent characters are ignored.
movement phase:
Units can stay stationary or move in different speeds. They can advance and use their normal movement or they can surge and double their movement distance. Some units can go flat out or fleet and triple their movement.
Advance: normal movement: every action allowed
Surge: double movement: close combat, consolidate moves, psychic powers, reactions, residual action allowed
Flat out: movement: triple movement: only reactions allowed, use own columns on to hit chart
Fleet movement: triple movement, can charge, count as moving against shooting, cannot forced surge
If the unit goes through difficult terrain it can only advance. No unit can ever go flat out or fleet through terrain.
Forced surge: Units can surge through terrain if they are allowed to go flat out outside terrain this turn. Tanks cannot force surge (except during a ram).
If the unit fails an I-test, terrain is treated as dangerous terrain.
During a charge, every unit can try to surge through. If the I-test is failed, the unit still can only advance. units, that have passed their I-test for the fleet movement, automatically pass this I-test.
Cant surge if there is another reason for the restriction to advance movement than terrain.
Unit types:
infantry: 6
beasts/cavalry: 8, fleet (1)
jump infantry: 8, ignore terrain*
jet pack infantry: 6, ignore terrain*, 6 move in consolidation phase
jetbikes: 10, ignore terrain*, flat out
(eldar jetbike: jetbike with Fleet (2) )
bikes: 8, flat out, cannot force surge
vehicles: 6
fast vehicles: 6, flat out
fast skimmer: 8, flat out
walker: 6, treat terrain like infantry
* as long as they dont start or end in terrain
Fleet (1): infantry, beasts, monstrous creature, jump infantry, jet pack infantry: I-test, if successful, can perform fleet movement, can always advance during disembarkation;
bikes and jetbikes: I-test successful: can make 6 move in consolidation phase
Fleet (2)/Bounding Leap: as Fleet (1), no I-Test required
Random movement: roll a D6: 1-2 unit moves as infantry, 3-4 unit moves as jump infantry but cannot ignore terrain, 5-6 unit moves as beast
Charging:
no model may enter 1 of enemy models unless it charges,
the only difference between a charge and a normal movement is: models may enter 1 of enemy models.
all other movement restrictions apply, unit must stay in coherency, are subject to terrain
charging units can make a forced surge
an unit can charge more than one unit, but must stay in coherency, cannot move closer than 1 to enemy units that are not charged
The units in contact are now locked. If any model moved through terrain, the defending unit can claim to be in terrain in the assault phase, in the assault phase, both unit pile in before trading blows
Charge by chance:
sometimes units are forced to perform a charge in another phase than the movement phase, the charge by chance is a pile in move, as if the charging and defending unit were locked but have lost contact, the defending unit can make a pile in move afterwards (even if it is his phase, the defending player piles in last).
the combat is fought in the next assault phase and no side counts as attacker or being in terrain, no side can use grenades, no further pile in moves occur before the fighting
Movement distance is important for shooting, only the attempted movement in the movement phase counts (other movements do not count, consolidate moves dont count, even a vehicle that has movement 1 can claim having moved flat out),
can be overridden by three events outside movement phase:
fighting in close combat : stationary
become immobile: stationary
falling back: moving
Wounding:
To wound chart:
wound everything at least on 6+
Wound Allocation (cc and shooting):
hit as normal, wound against majority
mark dice that represent special weapons and attacks or roll separately
1. decide whether to use Torrent of Fire or not
2. targets player allocate wounds to models, beginning with one chosen armour group, if every model in this group has a wound, start with another armour group and so on, if every model in the unit has a wound, start over
> multiple wounds: count for allocation as as many models as wounds remain
3. pick an unresolved armour group, determine which wounds are directed
4. directed wounds: roll saves for directed wounds, shooting player removes casualties
5. roll all remaining saves of this armour group, owning player removes casualties
6. goto 3
Directed wounds:
there are directed wounds in close combat and long-range combat, casualties from directed wounds are removed by owning player of the attacking unit
Wounds cannot be directed if targeted unit has Shielded USR, Torrent of Fire is used, vehicle diverts its fire or non-vehicle, non-MC unit is in fire corridor
Number of directed wounds: After allocating wounds to an armour group, it is determined if the how many and which wounds are directed as following:
- every attack from an IC in close combat is a directed wound,
- of the remaining wounds, every second wound, beginning with the first, from a Sniper weapon is directed.
- Of the remaining wounds on-sniper wounds, every fifth wound is directed, owning player of the shooting unit decides which wounds are directed
Torrent of Fire/Blows: if torrent of fire is used, the targeted unit is a single armour group, the owning player can choose one model, the whole unit has the same combination of armour saves
During a Torrent of Fire, no wound is directed
Armour group: number of model that share the same combination of saves, for example: 3+ armour save, Feel no Pain (1), no invulnerable save, 6+ cover save that is re-rollable on 1
Shooting:
for determining if a particular model in the unit can shoot, check range and line of sight from this model
cover saves:
fire corridor is measured from squad leader, to the two outermost models in the target unit, if 50% or more models are invisible or partial invisible due to cover or vehicles or monstrous creatures, the unit is in cover,
non-vehicles/MC are invisible for determining cover saves, but if such an unit is in fire corridor, wounds cannot be directed
if unit is covered mostly by fortifications or models are completely invisible: 4+ save
if unit is covered mostly by vegetation: 6+ save
if unit is covered mostly by vehicles or anything else: 5+ save
To Hit chart:
it is the same chart as the wound chart, but with seven columns from 0 till 6
(evasion value in brackets, abbreviates for small chart)
rows:
buildings (0)
stationary vehicles, MC, bikes (1)
stationary infantry, jet pack infantry, jump infantry, beasts // moving vehicles, monstrous creatures (2)
short distance // moving infantry, jet pack infantry (3)
moving bikes, jump infantry, beasts // swarms // flat out vehicles (4)
flat out bikes (5)
flyers, beacons (some narrative missions use beacons) (6)
columns:
BS 1-10
every column is:
. 6+ 6+ 6+ 5+ 4+ 3+ 2+ 2+ 2+
. but is shifted up or down
I give you the BS value for every column that hits on 3+: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 // 7
if distance from squad leader to target is less than 12, unit can always change column to short distance column
if a model moves like a different unit type, the initial unit type is still used for the chart
Assault weapon: bonus attack for second close combat weapon if unit has charged
Pistols: model can use it as additional close combat weapon or use its Strength in close combat but gains no bonus for another ccw, if pistol is AP 1,2 or 3, attacks are Rending (2)
Blast (Small) and Blast (Large):
scatter as before
dont use line of sight for determining cover saves, if majority of unit is in terrain, models get cover saves
marker has infinite height, only in leveled terrain it is two-dimensional
multiple Barrage is used every time when there comes more than one blast marker of the same type from a single shooting unit
Template: if there is a range given in a template weapons profile you can place the small end anywhere in this distance
Sniper (1): always wounds on 3+, Pinning, every second wound from a Sniper weapon beginning with the first is a directed wound
Sniper (2): always wounds on 3+, Rending (1), Pinning, every second wound from a Sniper weapon beginning with the first is a directed wound
Pinning: must make a pinning morale check
Tracer: treat every target as stationary
Anti Air: treat targeted flyer as flat out vehicle
Rending (1-3): 6,5+,4+ on to wound roll wound automatically and are AP2 or count as power weapon, D3 extra armour penetration
Poison/Dissolving (X+): as before, for shooting and close combat
Lance (1-3): treat AV as 13,12,11, no modifiers on damage chart ever
Instant Death(1): caused by double strength and other effects, models without Eternal Warrior (1-3) loose all wounds
Instant Death(2): models without Eternal Warrior (2-3) loose all wounds
Instant Death(3): also called removed from play, models without Eternal Warrior (3) loose all wounds
Eternal Warrior(1-3): Immune to Instant Death of same or lower level
seems I didn't do too badly then! I agree they are cute, there's a certain appeal to the design. I hope I can do it justice with the paint job!
